Ji.hlava IDFF for Ukraine

Babushka Zina is originally Ukrainian, but because of the current political situation she has remained in Russian-occupied Crimea. Separated from her family, she lives in a forgotten seaside town while trying to decide whether to stay or to leave.

How does it feel to become an occupier without having intended to? Using known as well as hitherto unpublished archival materials from throughout Europe and Russia, we tell a story involving director Anna Kryvenko’s own family about how high politics destroys the lives of ordinary people.

Putin’s crew aggressively yet skilfully uses the legacy of the Great Patriotic War to gain support in a small town, one symbolic of the victory over fascism.

Valentina Voronina, gardener and tenacious manager of a large conservatory, is fired after forty-five years on the job. Time is winning in its unequal battle with a lack of financing, a decaying building, and the approach of retirement age.

A compilation documentary consisting of public access YouTube videos, in which ordinary Russian citizens address president Putin.

Without showing any explicit battle footage, this film nevertheless manages to show the life of Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers on the Donetsk front.

Refugees from the Caucasian republics, Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Russians, meet on the shore of the Black Sea: they work as shop keepers, life guards, karaoke singers, or just enjoy their holidays.